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Old 28-Sep-2007, 13:49
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Default feel pity vs feel sorry

I just came across this exercise:
"Which of the following is correct: I feel pity for her/I feel sorry for her. ANSWER: feel sorry." (That's all the context there is)
Aren't both of them correct? I doublechecked in the dictionary and found the following sentence: "I felt pity for the poor creature", so that shows both of them are correct. Am I right here or am I missing something?
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Old 28-Sep-2007, 15:49
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Default Re: feel pity vs feel sorry

I've always seen "pity on something or someone", but maybe both are correct.
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Old 28-Sep-2007, 15:51
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Default Re: feel pity vs feel sorry

I agree with you. I think 'I feel sorry for you' is probably nore natural in most contexts, but 'I feel pity for N' [where N is a person] is perfectly acceptable - and in some contexts (when someone had asked about an emotion) it would be better than 'sorry':

'Don't you feel anything for me?'
'I feel pity for you.' [You wanted a noun, so here it is!]

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